The gaming industry has numerous casinos located both worldwide and in the United States. A client of a casino or other gaming entity can gamble via various games of chance and games of skill. For example, craps, roulette, baccarat, blackjack, poker, and electronic or electromechanical games (e.g. a slot machine, a video poker machine, and the like) where a person may gamble on the outcome.
Players may play these games at a stationary kiosk or on wireless devices, such as a smartphone, a tablet, a wearable technology, or the like.
Under current laws governing the taxation of wagering gains and loses, a player is permitted to calculate gambling games and losses after they cash out of a single gaming session. A wagering gain means the amount won in excess of the amount wager (basis). A wagering loss means the amount of the wager (basis) is lost.
Currently, a player must keep track of receipts from every single play in a game or every wager made. She would have to calculate the gain or loss on every transaction separately and treat every play or wager as a taxable event. The player would have to trace and recompute the basis through all transactions to calculate the result for each play or wager.
A better view is that the gamble, such as the taxpayer who plays slot machines, recognizes a wagering gain or loss after the end of a gaming session, such as she redeems her tokens. An aggregate amount from the winnings and loses during the gaming period is used to compute the tax liability.